6 Months

Can it really be that 6 months ago today we met our Katiebug for the very first time? She was so tiny and scared, but she sure did smile alot which was a blessing! Most days it feels like she has been in our family forever. Surely we have had her with us longer than just 6 months. I guess since we have carried her around with us in our hearts for years it makes time stretch out longer. We can't imagine a day without her or how we even lived without her for so long. My heart aches for everyone who is still waiting because I know how frustrating the wait is when you just want your child to love on.

We miss China and all of the people we met there. Our group is scattered all over the country and it's difficult to stay in touch but if any of our travel mates are reading this, we miss you guys and think about you often!

We are so blessed. We LOVE you Katiebug!

A Bad Habit

What's wrong with these pics? I'll tell you what's wrong. I have a ba-jillion digital photos of Katie. I made the terrible mistake of showing her the video screen of my camera one day after taking her picture. Now, whenever she sees me grab the camera to take her picture, she immediately stops doing whatever cute thing I was going to take a picture of and points and grabs for the camera. I guess I will have to put the darn thing away for a while and hope she forgets about it! - Yeah, right...

A FIRST...

Ever since we got Katie, I couldn't wait until her hair was long enough for a pony tail. Well, as you can see, she doesn't have alot of hair and what she does have is very, VERY fine.

I just love my cyber friend Kim's little girl, Miss Kate (see 3 Peanuts link). Her hair is so thick and she always is very fashionable with a bow to match her outfits. Katie will not keep a bow in her hair and even if should would, it would slide right out. I have been green with envy of all these China cuties with heads full of hair! Today I tried the pony tail. She didn't bother it for about 3 hours then she yanked it out. She reminds me of Pebbles from the Flintstones! We shall press on and continue trying to make this hair thing work.

It's Official....Again!

One more adoption journey destination reached. Today we had a court hearing on the readoption of Katie. Here in Orange County it is first come, first serve in family court. We were told to be at the courthouse by 8:30 am. We were there even before that and the line to get through security was about a mile long. We were worried we wouldn't make it! Once we got to the family court waiting room there were about 15 or so people ahead of us for various matters. Our attorney was able to arrange for us to be the first appearance, so that was nice! Luckily, no one waiting complained as Katie was just so darn cute walking around in the waiting room, I guess she won everyone over.

The judge asked us questions about our adoption process and then reviewed our homestudy. He asked how Katie had adjusted to life here. At that point, Katie was ruling the court room as she had wandered up in front of the judge's desk and was doing a little kind of dance and pointing at things. He immediately said, "Well, I can see that she has adjusted beautifully." It was a really nice ceremony and the judge told us as he neared the end of the proceeding that he deals with ugly matters most every day, all day in court and it was an absolute pleasure to be able to start the day off with something so wonderful today. They had a little congratulations card for Katie's scrapbook and took pictures of us with the judge.

Now we just wait for her birth certs which will come as a result of the proceeding today. Whew!